Welcome

Welcome to my blog! This is a blog devoted primarily to art. At least for while, I'll probably also include posts focusing on the environs in and around this amazing place - Joseph, Oregon. One example is the picture to the left taken from my front porch of a local walking two of his sheep down the street.

After arriving here in Joseph in mid June, I got around to painting by September. Ah, what's the rush? Much to move, unpack, adjust to, read, read, read, hike, snooze, do a bunch of writing, and so forth.

The summer was cooler and wetter than normal. No complaints from me on that regard. The hottest it got here were just a few days in the low 90's with a much wetter August than is normal. Now, summer's turned into fall. We've had several nights below 32F and people have begun to drape their tomato plants with plastic, as at this elevation the tomatoes are just

beginning to ripen.

Up around 5,500' the Aspen and Larch are just beginning to turn. We are still enjoying warm days in the 70's to 80's and sunny dawn to dusk with cool, clear nights. Perfect weather by me.

The next picture was taken on an unseasonably cool and overcast August day from atop the East Moraine looking south down the length of Wallowa Lake towards Bonneville Mountain,

the triangular peak in the center of the photo. These moraines are known the world over

to those who study glaciers. They are considered some of the most classic examples of lateral moraines. A lateral moraine is the pile of rock and earth created by a glacier's movement and mark the left and right boundary of the glacier's path.

Behind Bonneville Mountain you can barely make out the ridge upon ridge of peaks that are part of the Eagle Cap Wilderness, the largest wilderness in Oregon. Some still have visible snow patches on them in mid-August. Between the clear light, mountain peaks and valleys, multi-hued canyons, the deepest gorge in North America, farms and ranches, and the largest native grass prairie in the lower 48, there is no lack of stunning vistas from which to find inspiration.

TWO PAINTINGS

One of the HOT local issues is a decision by county commissioners who signed a contract to accept over 700 rail cars (a 30 miles long train) for three years for $59,000 a month. It's created a fair bit of heat, especially since there was no real, honest, public process before signing the contract.

My view is that there an eyesore not only because they blight the landscape but because a huge amount of trash has come in on the cars - all sorts of debris. There presence here is a manifestation of a significant problem - a lack of understanding of the importance of public process and how real process can help improve decision-making. You wouldn't find them parked over by Sun Valley (o.k., Sun Valley converted it's rail line to a bike and hike path) or Jackson, WY. Nope, it's poorer places that take other people's refuse be that in the form of surplus rail cars, spent nuclear waste, or trash. My first image including rail cars is titled "A necklace of 10,000 rail cars encircle Ruby Peak." It's given me some ideas for further treatments of this imagery.

PAINTING ALONG THE WILLAMETTE RIVER

A separate painting recently completed was begun in the Portland area, along the Willamette River, south of Portland proper. The spot where this painting was begun is a lovely park at water's edge with an old abandoned train trestle with just wonderful views up, down, and across the river. Both these pieces use knives rather than brushes for the vast majority of each image.

MY INTENTION WITH THESE PAINTINGS 

My basic interest is in:

1. Building up the surface with multiple paint layers;
2. Flat images devoid of linear perspective;
3. Exclude shadow
4. Capture a childlike nature.

READING MY IMAGES
These images are read like Chinese landscape paintings - as you move up through the picture plane, you are moving back in space. This  technique is also used in Japanese woodblock prints (I'm especially drawn to the woodblock prints of Hokusai and Hiroshige).  My images abstract detail even more, and like their imagery, I'm not too concerned about local color, as you can see! My interest lies more with form, texture, and the use of color to define form and trigger feelings in the viewer.  The first of these two paintings uses a fairly tight value and intensity range, using hue to delineate form. It's a more static image than the second painting which has a broader intensity and value range and a compositional device to add even more movement.